Pure Darkness, Fire and Ice
by saturns messiah
Summary: A new creature has appeared, one made of fire and ice. A being whose power cannot even be pierced by Usagi's pure light of love, only diminished. What can the senshi find to be rid of this new threat?
1. Prologue: A Source has Gone Amiss

AN: Sailor Moon is owned by all its respective owners, Naoko Takeuchi, et al. Any other characters in this story are copyright to me as well as the story itself. Thank you and I hope you enjoy.  
  
  
PURE DARKNESS, FIRE AND ICE  
  
  
Prologue: A Source Has Gone Amiss  
  
The candles flickered in the dark, wood panelled room; the evening darkness seeping in through the windowed doors. In the center of the room there sat a small, fist-sized fire. It radiated a cold, blue glow which emitted a small sphere of light around itself. Outside rain could be heard pouring against the slippery, slate stepping stones which were set in the ground. A wind beat against the oaken doors.  
  
She sat cross-legged on the wooden floor; her hands held in front of her in meditation. Her thoughts were focused on the flame and what it would tell. Her mind was in tune with the flame and was one with the flame. Nothing could distract her as she listened to the flame ...  
  
  
Great, vast plains were ahead of her, desolate and baren. She looked out into the appraching darkness...  
  
A cloud of amber passed by overhead. Covering the dust in front of her. As she looked down she saw the bright, yellow-orange of the clouds reflected in the water before her feet...  
  
Fire, all around her, consuming the trees and landscape around her, burning the river water and creeping up the waterfall...  
  
Cold ice crept up along her body as she looked out along an icy lake. Tears flowed down her cheeks and solidified on her skin. Suddenly darkness was around her once again. She was in a cold dismal space when a grey, metallic cross flickered in front of her eyes. She gasped as she felt a cold wind blow past her ears. Screams were whispered to her as the wind solidified into ghosts floating by her. Greyness floated around her feet and blackness whisked by her as...  
  
  
She came out of her meditation with a start. As she did so she noticed that the Great Flame had gone out. A hiss came out of her mouth as she stared at it in surprise. What could cause the flame to go out? The flame never went out. Hurriedly she ran from the room and into the adjoining library.   
  
Her long raven hair moved about her as she searched the wide, victorian bookshelves. The shelves were littered with hundreds of books making her search nearly impossible. Yet she continued to thumb through the books, searching for a passage or clue that might reveal to her the reason as to why the Great Flame had blown out. After hours of searching the library she decided to pull out one last book before she gave it a rest. An old, dusty book stored away in one of the lower corners of the bookshelves caught her eye.  
  
Rei began to thumb through 'The Legends and Tales of Old and Ancient Magiks' and stopped as she noticed a page deeply engraved with drawings and symbols. It spoke of a darkness that once swept the land, a being made of fire and ice which once overtook the earth and stole all emotion and feeling. The book talked of a time when once such a crisis had been at hand and of the Great Fire being blown out. It began to tell of the power needed to overcome this being, but there the book stopped, before any knowledge could be inferred as to how the being could be destroyed.  
  
Carefully the raven haired girl placed the book back into place, making a mental note to herself as to its whereabouts. Her deep, purple/black eyes swept over the room as she heard a noise. A cough sounded to her left and she whirled around with one of her charms in hand. She sighed as she noticed Yuuichirou tripping over a broom as he walked in through the open door.  
  
"Oh, hey Rei. Guess I didn't realize you were in here. Sorry if I disturbed you," Yuuichirou said in that annoyingly happy voice as he scratched his back making himself look ever more like a bafoon.   
  
Rei growled, furious at the intrusion, "Just don't let it happen again Yuuichirou!" She snapped at him. She hated that childish look he always gave her when she yelled at him so she quickly went from the room to escape his gawking.  
  
* * *  
  
A pale moon looked down upon her. Its beams giving a faint shimmer as night began to fall. The rain beat at her, ever harder. it had gone on all day. Would it ever stop? She thought. The wind blew past her on all sides and she could not help but listen to its movements and how it flowed. Her muscles tensed as she felt a change in the wind. The girl was nearly flung to the ground as she felt the power of some evil close by. What the hell?--  
  
"Michiru? Michiru?" Haruka snapped at the spaced-out girl standing beside her. The girl turned towards her slowly, a soft smile on her delicate lips, her aguamarine hair falling neatly past her shoulders. "Yes Haruka," the girl said sweetly.  
  
"Did you feel that," Haruka's ice blue eyes narrowed as she searched the horizon for something. "An energy source has gone out of existence. Completely vanished."  
  
"No, I didn't. I was thinking about yesterday how-"  
  
"Michiru," the sandy blond haired girl yelled at her companion, "how could you miss something like that! Why the power of it nearly knocked me over!" Suddenly she began to truly look at the girl before her, her eyes softened, "I'm sorry Michiru, I didn't mean to yell at you like that. It was something I should not have done, and definately not characteristic of me. I can understand, however, how you could be so spaced-out if you were thinking about yesterday," a feline-like grin split Haruka's face. "Why," she went on. If I hadn't been paying as little attention to the wind as I was I would've completely noticed the disruption." A solemn look crossed her face as a thought went through her mind, "Yet if I noticed it with as much force as I did and considering I was only giving part of my attention to it....than I ... oh my God! Michiru can you imagine the implications of this? An energy source! It disappeared! Ohhh...." The girl wailed as she put hands to her head so as to sooth her aching head.  
  
"But how can it disa-"  
  
"It can't," the tall, well-built girl injected, slowlt realizing her mistake, "It must have gone somewhere. But wherever it is, it's not on Earth anymore. Something has taken it, and hidden it perhaps."  
  
"Uranus," Neptune looked over at the now transformed Haruka, "I think I've found something in my mirror. It points to the- the shrine! Uranus it points to the shrine Rei works at!"  
  
A thoughtful look crossed Uranus's face, "The Hikawa Shrine, interesting," Uranus mused. "Neptune, I believe we should haul butt and see if anything is amiss over at Miss Rei's house." Uranus shot Neptune a cocky smile and the two were off, running towards the shrine.  
  
* * *  
  
Rei slid open the double-panneled doors as she heard a knock from the other side. Uranus and Neptune walked out of the rain and noticed the surprised look on Rei's face. Rei wiped the silly look off of her face as she noticed a smile forming on Haruka's lips. She stood silent as Haruka and Michiru de-transformed. "This is a pleasant surprise," she said softly. Her eyes flashing with anger for having been taken by that surprise. "And what are you two doing here?" Rei asked in an annoyed voice.  
  
Haruka stepped back, "Calm down Rei. We noticed a flux in energy and then realized that a major energy source has just disappeared. I had Michiru check it out on her mirror. It pointed towards your shrine," Haruka raised a questioning eyebrow. "Do you know anything about this?"  
  
Rei shot them a susposcious glance and than made a gesture indicating that they should sit. The three of them gathered around a small coffee table and listened as Rei retold her vision and what had happened with the fire. After she was done Haruka let out a small whistle, "Sounds like we may have a problem." Haruka paused allowing her words to take effect. She rarely ever admitted that there was a problem at hand, and the rare times when she did so the situation taken with extreme caution. "Rei could you please bring us the book you mentioned?" Haruka inquired.  
  
Slowly the perplexed girl nodded and left to retrieve the book. As soon as the girl left Michiru placed a comforting hand on top of Haruka's. "Haruka," the girl asked as she looked up at her through dark lashes, "You've never acted this way before. You're normally much quieter around them. Has something gotten into you?"  
  
A sheepish look crossed Haruka's face as she grinned awkwardly at the girl looking up at her. "Heh," she laughed, "must have been yesterday," a devilish grin split her face as she spoke. "I have been rather out of character lately I suppose. Gomen!" She smiled at the beautiful green haired girl and laughed inwardly. What a fool I've been! Everyone must think I've lost it. She thought to herself.  
  
Her eyes widened as she heard Michiru laugh, a slender hand placed in front of the girl's mouth as if to stiffle the laughter. "Perhaps we should spend more days like yesterday," the girl laughed behind her hand as Haruka looked at her in wide eyed disbelief.  
  
* * *   
  
Weary eyes searched the bookcases once more until her eyes found the book she had hidden away. Rei decided to study the book once more before she went back to the two Outers who had interrupted her thoughts. She growled in her throat. Normally she got along well with thsoe two, but today she just could not make herself believe they had come here only because of the energy disturbance. Something must be bothering them. She thought, they must be susposcious of me to have come here this late. Or are they protecting me from something? She shuddered at the thouhgt. If Michiru and Haruka were trying to protect her from something then she was in great danger, if not...then she would just have to find out their motives for stopping by the shrine. They rarely ever contacted any of the inners about senshi business except for Usagi. This was odd that they should come here to see her.  
  
She decided to end that train of thought as she went back to studying the book she had pulled out. She sighed resignedly as she found no new information and went back into the room to rejoin Haruka and Michiru.  
  
"Where the hell is she," she heard Haruka grumblinh beneath her breath. Rei had noticed that Haruka had been acting strange all night. True Haruka sometimes let her anger get the best of her, but this was beyond weird. It was almost as if Haruka was having mood swings. Rei dismissed that line of thought, concentrating on more important things.  
  
Gently she placed the book in front of Haruka and Michiru and turned towards the section detailing the being of fire and ice. They spent hours studying the book, reading and rereading. Finally Rei shouted out in frustration, "Why can't the stupid thing tell us more! It stops at the crucial point!"  
  
Michiru and Haruka shared a knowing look, they understood her feelings, but could do nothing to help. "Calm down Rei," Michuri said in a soothing voice, "we just have to look harder. Perhaps Ami will find something when we tell the rest of the scouts."  
  
Rei sighed, too resigned to protest, "Hai," she said weakly, "We'll contact them as soon as we all get some rest, perhaps we can ..." she said as she attempted to stiffle a yawn, "find...some...thing...some ..some thing.....," Rei mumbled as she fell fast asleep on the floor next to a sleeping Michiru and Haruka. 


	2. Chapter One: Ancient Demonic Forces

Chapter One: Ancient Demonic Forces  
  
  
A shudder ran down Saturn's spine as she stood in the silent darkness. The energy flux had been immense. She vaguely wondered if any of the other senshi had noticed the change. She looked out around her into the stars, into the distance, searching her mind for the trace. Silently a hand was placed upon her shoulder.  
  
She looked up to see a tall, emerald haired woman frowning into the distance. "Pluto," Saturn spoke solemnly, "What can you make of the flux? Has this event changed the future?"  
  
The woman looked ahead sadly now, her face drawn down as if she was about to cry, "Saturn, you should know my answer to that. All events in the present will affect the future, but this one..." she paused, worry creasing her face. "It is hard to make out the trace. A new enemy perhaps. I can not be sure of what it is. However, the Time Vortex, well... it's slowing down. Saturn, this has never occured in, in...forever!" Pluto ended with a dramatic whisper.  
  
Stoically Saturn took all the information in before she spoke, thought of the ramifications of Pluto's statement. "Let us just hope that Eternal Sailor Moon can do something to alter this force, if not...," she paused as she saw the worried look on Pluto's face. "God help us all," she whispered beneath her breath.  
  
* * *  
  
A breeze passed through the room and awoke Minako. She had thought she had heard a noise, but as she looked around she saw that no one was there. She turned to look at her clock and as she did so she noticed a beautiful obsidian hued rose lying on her nightstand.  
  
* * *  
  
The sable haired girl looked over at her alarm clock with groggy eyes, 2:05 a. m., it read. 2:05? Why had she woken up so early? Groggily she pulled herself out of bed and went to the windows. She walked out onto the porch of her apartment and looked out across the city. Something feels wrong, she thought.  
  
Slowly, carefully she reached out with her senses to find the change. The lightining patterns seemed to be tense and ill-placed and the clouds were rumbling from the excess energy in the night air. In the air she felt ... change. She could not place a name to it.  
  
Later that morning Makoto woke up once more. She had decided to go back to sleep after her short excursion that morning. Once more she felt the air. Same as last night, she thought, I wonder what it means.  
  
* * *  
  
Ami was startled awake by her phone ringing, "Hello," she answered.  
  
"Moshi, moshi," an worried Makoto replied. "Ami have you noticed this ... change? I can seem to place it but something seems to be wrong."  
  
Ami shook her head in disbelief, "No Mako-chan, I'll check my computer for data. I'll call you if I find anything. Bye."  
  
"Jya."  
  
Ami heaved a sigh of exasperation as she pulled herself out of bed. If she didn't check out this "change" as Makoto had said, she would be pestered with phone calls every fifteen minutes until she did she did so.   
  
Ami had been using her computer lately to track all data that might be of importance to the scouts. She gasped as she noticed the disturbance blinking on the screen. Something has gone wrong with the energy equilibrium, she realized. This is on such a massive scale, how can such a thing have happened? The implications, why...she decided to call Makoto and the scouts on the communicater.  
  
"Mako-chan," Ami went on in a hurry, "we've got a problem on our hands. I'll contact the other scouts, transform quick."  
  
"Hai!"  
  
* * *  
  
Rei was awakened by the beeping on her communicator, "Moshi?"  
  
"Rei, we've got a problem on our hands, transform quick!" Shouted Ami's voice form the other side.  
  
"Eh? Ami what are you talking about?"  
  
"There's some problem with the energy equilibrium, I-"  
  
"Oh, I see. Ami the Great Fire has gone out, that's what you are noticing. Tell the other scouts to meet us here. Uranus and Neptune are here with me. Do not worry the situation is under control," Rei laughed uneasily. Under control was not quite the case, but she couldn't leave Ami to worry.  
  
"Yes," Ami calmly replied, "I shall tell them."  
  
"Jyamattane."  
  
Haruka looked quizically at Rei, "Under control? It appears that the others understand the situation in part. Let's just see if dumpling-head has even realized something has happened, ne?"  
  
Giggles came from Michiru's mouth as she tried to supress a laugh. They all knew Usagi would be oblivious to the problem until she was informed.  
  
* * *  
  
"Where is she!" Yelled an exaperated Rei, "If it was Usagi I'd understand, but Minako is never this late!"  
  
"Hey! I'm not always late!" Glowered Usagi as she mumbled beneath her breath.  
  
"Calm down Rei," Haruka serenly sipped her tea. "She'll be here soon. In the meantime let's get started. Saturn?"  
  
The tiny girl looked down at her feet before addressing the group, "This is no ordinary negaverse creature. As you can see from," uncertainly she paused, "from Rei's book, the being is something ancient. A thing that once was and that may be again. If we don't stop it... it will devour the Earth. Unlike the other beings we've faced this one has no feelings, no emotions, all it knows is hunger and a desire to live. It lives through feeding on energy and .. I'm not sure what else," she stuttered, "it says that light will hurt it, but, well it won't stop it." She looked up, fear showing through in her deep, violet eyes, "Eternal Sailor Moon will not be able to stop it."  
  
Gasps could be heard across the room.   
  
"What shall we do?"  
  
"Is there any way to stop it?"  
  
Saturn went on silently, determination replacing fear, "The book stops before telling us the weapon which can be used against the creature, however it seems that we need to find a new warrior who can defeat this creature. We are powerless against it as we are. We can only diminish its powers. Also it subconciously uses other creatures to do it's bidding. It is noted that the being may consume another being to act as a conduit of its power and as a "brain" for its feelings. A being which can communicate with us." 


	3. Chapter Two: A Walk Through the Park

Chapter Two: A Walk Through the Park  
  
  
(AN: koibito means love/lover/sweetheart and Hidoi means causing pain)   
  
  
Minako Aino quickly got dressed into a loose, babyblue sweter and a pair of jeans. Hurredly she put up half of her hair in a red ribbon and let the rest of her golden-blond hair fall past her shoulders. Minako added the last touches of lipstick and ran out of the door baraly noticing the beeping of her communicator which she had left in her room.  
  
* * *  
  
The sky was a beautiful baby blue hue which nearly matched her sweater and the clouds still held some of their last fringes of pink. It was a gorgeous day out and Minako was not about to let it pass her by. She hummed as she walked down the pathway towards the park, glancing now and than at the cherry blossoms in bloom and at the soft green grass which lined the pathway.  
  
In her bag she carried the black rose that had been left on her nightstand. This was the third night that a rose had been left somewhere in her room. She thought of it as slightly odd, but then Mamoru had done the same for Usagi at times, perhaps this was a rose from her true love. Yet that too confused her, for her true love was Hidoi and he would never leave a rose for her. She sighed, it was all too complicated.  
  
A part of her longed for a man who would leave her flowers and be a perfect gentleman and the other part still clinged to the man she loved. A man who would never bring flowers or open doors, but who was still loving towards her despite his flaws. She loved him dearly and yet it was hard to tell with him. It seemed at times that he did not love her at all, and at other times she felt nothing but love from him. He truly was a strange boy.  
  
She sighed as she walked through the park. The cherry blossoms were in bloom this time of day, beautiful pink petals on every bough. Minako picked one of the flowers off of it's branch and sat down on a bench located under one of the cherry trees. Deep in thought she never noticed the boy who sat down beside her until he leaned over and whispered something in her ear.  
  
"Oh!" She giggled, "You surprised me, Hidoi, yes that would be very nice. You will be staying a little longer, won't you."  
  
"I can not Minako. You know that. I must go for a few days, but I shall be back shortly. Think of me while I am gone. And remember to do as I have said. Alright?"  
  
She nodded sadly, "Of course, my koibito, why would I ever do otherwise." She looked into her hands, at the flower she twirled between her fingers. "You know I would never betray you," she whispered under her breath. Her eyes lit up with sadness as she turned to look upon his face. Tears welled up in her eyes as she leaned over and kissed his cheeck and then ran away crying to herself.  
  
* * *  
  
"I am sorry, Minako, my kobito. You know there is nothing I can do. I cannot endanger you. That is the true reason I must go my love. I only wish you could know. I promise I shall come back some day. Some day soon my love," the boy whispered after she had ran out of sight. In his eye was one silent tear. 


End file.
